Vegas/Death Valley Advice

I'm pretty sure most of those Vegas moguls are big GOP contributors. So are most owners of big corporations. Unfortunately, it's hard NOT to do business with them.

I'm sure the Venetian's nice, but if I could stay in the Rio for $59/night, I'd do that and take a taxi over to the Venetian for the show. It can't be $150 a night nicer.

 

My parents went recently. They said the rooms were fabulous. Mom was a big fan of the gondola ride, and Dad loved Delmonico Steakhouse. It's run by Emeril, he says.

 

Likewise.

My wife and I used to stay at the Rio almost every trip we took -- incredible buffet, great all-suite rooms, semi-reasonable (I could usually get in for around $200 a night, sometimes as low as $70, depending on what was going on that weekend), reasonable table minimums and that awesome pool.

I was on their mailing list. Then, all of a sudden, I wasn't. Probably around the same time Harrah's moved in.

 

I'm a big Strip guy. Always have been.
But, last time, we stayed Downtown and we had a blast. Plus, I played $3 and $5 craps until I couldn't roll anymore. That's didn't suck.

 

As long you didn't stay at the Gold Spike. I'm afraid I can't recommend that one ... unless, of course, you like a 1980s Elks Club decor, complete with a haze of authentic 25-year-old Virginia Slims and Marlboro Reds near the ceiling.

 

No, we didn't. I actually would have never stayed down there. We went with friends. And, they're Hawaiian. And for some reason, Hawaiians flock to the Cal Club like the swallows to Capistrano.
The rooms were all redone. All flatscreens. New everything. The only thing, the casino ceiling was low. It was a cool place. A different experience altogether.

 

Hawaiians love to gamble. Aloha (RIP) had a triangle route that went Honolulu, Orange County, Reno, Honolulu.

 

Again . . . Harrah's is EVIL. Go out of your way, not to support the bastards.

 

Will only point out that visitors got far better deals in terms of gaming value and room/food prices when the Mob DID run the show, pre-Hughes.

 

First time I went to Vegas, in 1989, I stayed at the Vegas World (now the Stratosphere, I believe). It had a roof-top pool, as I recall. Rooms were nice enough even if the casino didn't have a sports book and it was a million miles from anywhere.

Is the Las Vegas Club still downtown? It had some cool baseball stuff.

 

Vegas Club still there, and the baseball stuff remains . . .